Family Ethics And Inheritance Of Imperial Power Of The Northern Wei Emperors

The imperial power inheritance of the Northern Wei Dynasty was inextricably linked with the ethical relationship within the emperor's family.Many scholars have analyzed some abnormalities or conflicts that occurred in the emperor's family in the Northern Wei Dynasty and linked them to the inheritance of imperial power,but they have not yet realized that these abnormalities or conflicts were signs of the dramatic changes in the family ethics.This article intends to start from the clue of family ethics changes,pay attention to the analysis of custom,culture and emotion,connect a series of related events that occurred in the Northern Wei Dynasty,clarify its consistent internal logic,and examine the interactive relationship between family ethics changes and the inheritance of imperial power.In the Xianbei tribe,the mother was at the core of the family,while the father was in a relatively marginal position.Father and son were often in a state of competition or even opposition.At the same time,the inheritance model in the tribe was that the strongest can seize the throne,and almost every time the throne was passed on there would be great unrest.Emperor Daowu carried out the system called as "killing the mother of crown prince " was not to prevent tribal forces of the queen family from interfering in politics,but to eliminate the mother's influence in the family through extreme measures and establish the father's absolute authority,then create a Confucian relationship model of "the father is affectionate and the son is dutiful" between father and son.His ultimate goal was to imitate the family ethics of Han people to establish the lineal primogeniture system,thereby ensuring the stability of the inheritance of imperial power.After prince Tuoba Shao killed his father,Emperor Mingyuan finally understood and inherited Emperor Daowu's choice.After Emperor Taiwu Inherited the throne,due to his deep attachment to the nomadic lifestyle,although he took over the lineal primogeniture system and the system of crown prince contemporarily govern the nation,he did not realize the inner spirit of these two systems.He elevated his nursemaid to the position of the queen mother,allowing the role of mother to resurrect as a nursemaid;at the same time,he was unwilling to delegate power to prince Tuoba Huang who he authorized to govern the nation,and eventually killed him in rage.This incident was the reappearance of the conflict between father and son in the tribal era.It was not until Zong Ai killed Emperor Tuoba Yu that the ministers headed by Lu Li and Yuan He promoted Tuoba Huang's son Tuoba Jun as the emperor.The concepts of “the younger brother should inherit the throne” and “the lineal eldest son should inherit the throne” existed side by side.After Tuoba Jun ascended the throne,the royal clan and Dai nobles continued to rebellion,showed that the traditional concept of supporting an elder monarch from the tribal era was fiercely boycotting young monarchs.Tuoba Jun ascended the throne as a crown prince's son and finally consolidated his position,this fact greatly strengthened the inertia force of the lineal primogeniture system.In the rebellion of Yi Hun,the royal clan and the Dai nobles unanimously supported the throne of Emperor Xianwen,the concept of “the lineal eldest son should inherit the throne” had been solidified.Queen Mother Wenming had no blood relationship with Emperor Xianwen,nor was she the nursemaid of Emperor Xianwen,there was no affection between them,so the power struggle was extremely fierce.Queen Mother Wenming raised Emperor Xiaowen and cultivated mother-child affection with him,which was the foundation of her authority.She finally forced Emperor Xianwen to abdicate and acted as regent.Since then,the nursemaid regency system and the lineal primogeniture system reached an alliance.The nursemaid protected the eldest son's throne to maintain her own political position.At the same time,the mother-child affection between them eased the power struggle and kept the power structure stable.Queen Mother Hu imitated Queen Mother Wenming,but she had never raised her son Yuan Xu,which led to a weak family affection and fierce power struggle between them.Emperor Xuanwu did not have a queen mother when he was in power,but he was deeply attached to his dead mother,so he conferred government posts and titles on his uncles whom he had never met before,leading to the first time that relatives interfered in politics since the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty.At the same time,the system of killing the mother of crown prince continued to be implemented,and most concubines chose abortion to avoid death.It was not until Hu risked her life to give birth to a son for Emperor Xuanwu,and then the system was finally abolished.Under the nursemaid regency system,the father was still at the margin of the family relative to the mother.Yuan Xun rebelled against his father and attempted to flee north to City Pingcheng,which was the reappearance of the phenomenon of the son rebelling against his father in the tribal era.Emperor Xiaowen regarded Yuan Xu's resistance as a dispute over political ideas and cruelly killed him,and the Confucian father-son relationship was ultimately not established.For Emperor Xiaoming,the center of the family was the nursemaid or the birth mother.The mother's position as the center of the family had always been the same since Emperor Taiwu.